People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has been a controversial organization for decades. Before they used overt violent imagery in their advertising, they had a sizable amount of support from animal rights activists. Since then, many people have complained that PETA is hypocritical and feel as though PETA has often gone too far. What acts of violence have they actually committed?
Reports by the Huggington Post and Snopes provided all of the information used in this article.
PETA kills animals
This is the No. 1 issue many people have with the organization. It is true that PETA operates kill shelters and it's been reported that they've illegally captured animals for the purpose of killing them. Stealing and killing animals is obviously wrong and usually illegal and for many people, this is the hypocritical moment when it comes to PETA. Why would a group that is focused on animal welfare kill so many? From a moral standpoint, PETA believes they're doing the right thing. PETA is generally against pet ownership and believes that we hold animals hostage in such a way that we actually damage them spiritually and often physically.
They believe that animals, being sentient and having the ability to feel, can, therefore, be enslaved and that slavery is wrong. This personification is another uncomfortable area where not many can agree with them.
All violence is equal
PETA will often try to compare violence against humans with violence against animals, saying they're essentially equal. This will often manifest itself in physical protests by getting naked to protest fur, lying in a coffin to show death, or having an activist dress or act like an animal and face faux cruelty in a public space. These are all unconventional and flashy measures designed to elicit feelings to get people to think about these subjects.
This becomes controversial, and maybe even violent when PETA pushes people's emotional well-being to the edge.
Because of artificial insemination practices that can hurt the cow when repeatedly done, PETA has compared modern birthing cows to human rape victims. Many women's rights activists, who might also be left-leaning or vegetarian, found to be this a step too far. PETA feels that the disregard of the feelings of all women, including the non-human ones, must be taken into account and that there is no difference in the mass rape.
PETA's violence
All-in-all PETA does not actively hurt people. They will splatter celebrities with red paint and flour when they wear fur, but they stop short of causing physical harm. Some have accused the group of emotional violence, but they feel it's justified by their belief that those humans ignore the innumerable amount of suffering by animals.
While they are extreme, PETA is right that animals feel pain and experience emotion. Animals, in the right setting, will bond with one another and they do face mental trauma. PETA would argue that not caring for animals because they're not as smart would be giving a free pass to abuse the mentally disabled, but at the same time, it also seems like they argue putting down slaves is the humane way to deal with those problems.